Well I took the plunge

I've been lurking here a while a off and on and running for a couple of years to keep the belly at bay.

Up in Keighley visiting my mum over the weekend and decided to have a bit of a run as I had my orienteering shoes with me.

Dropped off the family in Ilkley and parked at Cow and Calf. Ran over towards Burley Woodhead then up the stream to the moor top, past the Twelve Apostles to Keighley (Whetstone) Gate then back over the road to Ilkley. Up the path past White Wells and above Rocky Valley then back past the quarry to the Cow and Calf Car Park.

About 7 miles and 1000 feet I think. 90 minutes if you subtract the time spent talking to the "Baht T'Hat Walk" Marshal at Keighley Gate so we haven't discovered the next Ian Holmes!

What an absolutely superb run out, blue sky all the way, 15C and a wind to keep you cool and I've never seen the moor drier. Really, really enjoyable.

I just wore shorts and a long sleeved base layer and my orienteering shoes. Carried a windshirt, hat, gloves a few jaffa cakes and a litre of water (some of which came back with me) and a compass and OS map. Couldn't fit the map in my (cycling type)
bum bag so carried it by hand.

Any tips? Maybe get a bigger bag for a start and what do you guys carry on a run of 1-2 hours?

Right ankle a bit sore (but no worse than a few miles on the roads) and the peat was really comfortable to run on. Kept going on the flats and downs but walked some of the uphills.

Must get up North more often..............

Hey up Lanterne Rouge

Welcome to the forum.

Doesn't look like you need any tips. You seem to have it sorted.:thumbup:

All the best
sbrt

This is going to get extremely confusing now with Lantern Rouge and Lanterne Rouge :/

Lanterne Rouge, glad you enjoyed your run. I know that area well, it's my local patch. It's extremely dry at the moment, as you no doubt noticed. You'll have to do the same route in the winter one day - bring your waders! How often do you get up this way?
Like sbrt says, you seem to have the kit sorted. I think you'd probably need just about the same kit for a couple of hours or so - mebbe a few more jaffa cakes, get used to drinking from streams occasionally?

Sorry about any confusion with the name. I haven't raced yet but am confident that I will be genuine article (right at the back).

Plodding Bear, I dont get up as often as I should - probably 4 times a year. I know a lot of the fell terrain from hiking and walking in to crags for rockclimbing but that was all 30+ years ago!

I think I need more than extra Jaffa Cakes. Hill training would be top of the list. I was out for a gentle 5k tonight and found the steepest part of the field to run up a few times. Not easy to get genuine fell terrain in Essex!

A bit of research here suggests my route would have been a B Medium under FRA guidelines and similar distances are won in around 45-50 minutes. That gives a bit of heart as I'm less than double the likely winners time!

More training needed I think

Lots of people run on the fells just for the hell of it, and never enter a race or run with anyone else. I'm going to do a few more next year, or maybe later this year, but to be honest I'm quite happy just plodding along with my dog! The times don't bother me too much, really, and I don't suppose I'm on my own there. I did a couple of longish events earlier this year and they were both pretty sociable occasions. I think all the competitive types were way up front!

Almost a year since my last post but a bit of an update. I was up in Keighley over the weekend so had another go on Ilkley moor - started at Bradup on the way to Keighley gate, over to the plantation on the West and then over to the Ilkley side of the moor, back along the field enclosure walls and up to cross the moor road then across above White Wells and over to Burley Moor, back along the wall towards Whetstones gate with a detour to the summit trig point and then back to the car. About 9 miles and not a huge amount of ascent. A beautiful day but still ice underfoot in the shady parts. Not quick - took me over two hours with a bit of map reading and a chat with a guy walking his dog but I think I could get hooked on this. Didn't enjoy the stone flagged footpath or the road much.

Any idea how to get the peat stains off your foot?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lanterne Rouge

Any idea how to get the peat stains off your foot?

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Impossible.
Just paint yourself brown all over.
Living in Essex, everyone will assume you've been in the Tanning Salon.

Thanks for that. I knew it was a mistake to reveal I'm in exile in Essex!

As long as you remember your roots and don't try running in stilettos, you'll be reet!

Have you done any races yet?
There are some classics up/over/round Rombalds Moor.

Stained feet and black toenails are 'tools of the trade', I think! I know what you mean about the flagged bit, from the aerials over to the trig point; I know it's to counter erosion but it's taken a bit of the fun out of that stretch. Also, the prehistoric cairn that used to be next to the trig has disappeared since that path was built.
Did you enjoy it? That's all that really matters...

Thoroughly enjoyed it - who wouldn't on a day like Sunday! Yes the toenails are black though a long session with a nail brush shifted the fake tan from my feet.

No races yet though I might have a go. A couple of guys in my orienteering club head north for races every couple of weeks and have offered to take me along.

The main problem is so little access to proper upland down here. Running round the fields is OK but not really the same

Next time you're coming up give us some advance warning, mebbe we can get together for a run out. As the moniker suggests, I'm very much a plodder not a racing snake though!

Plodding Bear, I'm no racer either and more interested in enjoying myself than being the quickest. I'm up around 3-4 times a year and will drop you a line when I next get a chance.
Thanks for the offer!